Painted Black With Despair
by DoubleA7
Summary: *Also in musicals under Painted Black*


No one paid much attention to the young man with the guitar. For a split second they might stop and listen to his voice when they recognized a song, before hurrying off. It wasn't as if they didn't like his singing, most thought he had a rather pleasant voice, but there were places to go and people to meet and simply not enough time to spare a second glance at the musician.

His voice was barely audible over the chattering and shouting of the surrounding strangers milling around him. He was used to people ignoring him so he was surprised when a man began clapping and stomping his feet to the music until Grantaire strummed the last chord.

"Nice song, mate. Wish I could give you something," said the man, awkwardly shoving his hands into his pockets after he realized that Grantaire had stopped. Grantaire looked down at the half open guitar case at his feet which had only a few handfuls of coins in it before shrugging in resignation. "No worries, not like there's anything much you can give," he said, taking note of the threadbare clothing on the man.

"Wanna play another song for me?" the man asked, but before Grantaire could reply, grabbed the open guitar case, which lay at his feet, and took off, coins bouncing out and onto the street.

Cursing under his breath, Grantaire thrust his guitar into the hands of the person closest by and said, "Hold this for me!", before sprinting after the thief.

It didn't take long for him to catch up to the man for he had tripped and his shoe had fallen off, slowing him down a considerable amount.

"Hey! You! Stop!" Grantaire yelled out before barreling into the man and sending them both sprawling onto the ground. All the coins were now scattered and Grantaire couldn't help but send every swear he knew at the bald thief who was muttering apologies and picking up the coins.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" He yelled angrily at him. Playing music was one of the few ways he could afford new things and now it was all gone.

"Sorry! It's just, time are tough, y'know, and I just needed a pound or two more to pay my rent and then I saw the money and thought...well you know." The bald man stuttered out as he deposited them into the artist's hands.

The last four years had seen a large increase in the unemployed and Grantaire knew he would've lost his job a long time ago if his father weren't his boss. Suppressing the anger inside him, he handed back some of the money with a sigh. "Just ask next time."

The man stuttered out his thanks before they departed, one hoping he could pay the rent for his family, the other hoping his guitar would be safely waiting for him.

* * *

Thankfully the man still had his guitar, though he was fiddling around with the strings.

"Hey! Stop it, you're gonna mess them up!" Grantaire warned as he neared the stranger, who shrugged in response. "It is already broken." His French accent was light enough for Grantaire to understand him though it took him a second or two to register.

"What?"

"Your guitar. It is already broken. Well, old, and strings are not so good."

Grantaire shrugged. The guitar had been his father's and he had never been able to scrounge up enough money to get it fixed or replaced. He barely had enough to buy a coffee.

"I show where to get it fixed? Cheap and nice," the man said as he returned the guitar. Pondering over the offer, Grantaire finally shrugged. He had plenty of time before his shift started and nobody showed much interest in his music anyways. Zipping the case up, he slung it over his shoulder. "Alright."

The man smiled in response. He was younger looking than Grantaire, and had a light build. Picking up the basket of flowers by his feet ,which Grantaire had just noticed, he pointed down the street. "We go down there, then take a left and walk some more."

As they began to make their way through the small crowds, Grantaire realized he did not know the man's name. "What's your name?"

"Jean, but my...friends call me Jehan. Jehan Prouvaire. Yours?"

"Grantaire," answered the musician.

* * *

**A/N:****I like the movie Once and have not seen the musical (yet ;)) so it will be mainly based off of the movie until I find more clips of the stage production though it's been awhile since I've seen it so things will be changed around (like the setting, this will be set in London, not Ireland). I only have the outline for this story inside my head and most likely won't update this story for at least a month, cuz' I'm lazy.**


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